15 Years Later, ‘Lanterns’ Is Fixing A Massive Superhero Movie Costume Mistake

A step in the right direction.

It goes without saying, but a key element of any successful superhero is the costume. It’s pretty hard to imagine Spider-Man becoming such a cultural phenomenon without the eternally cool webbed costume designed by Steve Ditko, and had DC Comics gone with Bob Kane’s original red-and-black look for Batman, we almost certainly wouldn’t have 15 different theatrically released films starring the character.

There’s so much iconography contained in the aesthetic of a comic book costume that bringing them to life on-screen requires an immensely difficult balancing act, with costume designers having to thread the needle between something that is functional and looks good on camera while also keeping the core elements of the design. Oftentimes they nail all three, but occasionally a good live-action superhero costume is held back by an overreliance on CGI to touch it up – a problem that the HBO Max series Lanternshas corrected from the last time the character was presented in live-action.

A CGI Costume Sank Green Lantern’s First Outing

While maybe not as immediately recognizable as Superman or Wolverine’s outfits, Hal Jordan’s original Green Lantern design has changed little in comics for the 67 years it’s existed, and it’s easy to see why. The domino mask, the white gloves, the green and black color scheme with the emblazoned logo on the front – not only is it evocative as the design for a superhero, but it also works as a ubiquitous uniform worn by the other members of the GLC. Each Earth-based Green Lantern has a unique costume that serves to distinguish them with their own visual personality, but it’s obvious that all of them are building off the blueprint laid by Hal’s original.

The first live-action adaptation of the character, 2011’s Green Lantern,was a critical and commercial failure for a variety of reasons, but one of the biggest sources of disappointment from fans was the look of Hal Jordan’s suit. Instead of being a tactile physical costume, director Martin Campbell depicted it as a construct of the ring itself, complete with pulsing green energy flowing through it – an effect that was, of course, achieved entirely using CGI. The idea of the Green Lantern suit being a ring construct isn’t inherently a bad idea (and it’s one the comics have used before), but the issue is the total reliance on VFX; it looks obviously fake, as if someone stuck a bobblehead of Ryan Reynolds onto an animated costume.

It’s easy to criticize Green Lanternfor the choice, but truthfully the issue was one of time; fifteen years later, using CGI for a superhero costume is common practice at this point. Black Panther in Civil War and the MCU’s first few Spider-Man appearances had suits rendered entirely using CGI (although both did have practically made costumes used for reference), and while it’s still noticeable, it certainly looks a lot better than it did back in 2011. But even though the practice is becoming more fine-tuned, there’s still something lost by using a computer-generated costume.

LanternsSuit Isn’t Flawless, But It Is Real

We’ve only seen the Green Lantern suit a handful of times on the show so far, and even less actually being worn. It’s not above reproach: there’s an overcomplicated leather jacket look to it, and the coloring is far from the bright emerald green in the comics. However, it’s way better than the 2011 suit because it’s a real tactile costume, one that can be interacted with on set in ways that are narratively relevant to the story, like John modeling the suit on himself during a brief trip to Hal Jordan’s lavish, empty mansion.

With it being public knowledge that Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart will be a part of the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow, there’s a chance that he could be sporting a new design, but if he does, hopefully Gunn continues to use a practical costume for the character. Not only will it look more tangible on camera, but the idea of the Green Lantern having to pull on his boots and put on his domino mask the old-fashioned way adds a believable real-world relatability to a character who can make anything using his imagination. Lanternshas been a triumph over the 2011 film in many ways, and the suit happens to be one of the smaller (but no less crucial) improvements made in terms of bringing the character to life.

New episodes of Lanternspremiere every Sunday on HBO Max.

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